Theme parks have traditionally provided a variety of ways to entertain the hearts and minds of children and adults alike. Many of the world's most entertaining theme parks have innovated and transformed the way we see and experience the world. Tricks of light and sound take a person from their mundane surroundings and transport them to another world, time or place.
Although, theme parks have succeeded in making the environments immersive they have come up short in making the environments fully interactive. Nothing exists that makes a person visiting the park feel as if they are truly part of the world or experience that they are visiting.
Currently there exist various technologies that permit communication with objects at a distance. For example, RFID technology generally uses cheap transmitters in order to provide information to readers. FIG. 1 shows a prior art system illustrating a basic RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system 100. The RFID system 100 has a tag 8, and an RFID reader 10. There is variety of different types of RFID tags. Active RFID tags are RFID tags that contain a battery and can transmit data to a reader. Passive RFID tags are RFID tags that do not contain a battery and cannot transmit data unless interrogated by an RFID reader. There are also combinations of the two types of tags, called semi-passive tags, which have some battery power but do not actively transmit signals to the RFID readers, instead they can be awoken by a signal from the reader 10. RFID tags can be write-read or read only RFID devices. The RFID system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is using a passive tag 8 which is capable of transmitting data to the RFID reader 10, which can act as both a transceiver and receiver.
In the prior art system shown in FIG. 1, the RFID reader 10 sends a radio frequency signal 7 to the passive RFID tag 8 from the antenna 12 in order to interrogate it. The signal 7 is received by the tag 8 through the antenna 14. This activates the tag 8 so that it can respond to the reader 10 with the information from the tag 8. The tag 8 transmits information back to the reader 10. In this way the RFID reader 10 operates as a data collection device by receiving data from the RFID tags 8. Typically the data received is simply identification data that indicates to the reader 10 that the tag 8 is there and also provide identification information, such as a serial number.
Another form of technology that enables communication over a limited distance is Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is an open specification for seamless wireless short-range communications of data and voice between both mobile and stationary devices. For instance, it specifies how mobile phones, computers and PDAs interconnect with each other, with computers, and with office or home phones. Although these types of technologies have been around for awhile they have not been employed to their fullest extent and potential with respect to the interactive and immersive environment of theme parks.
Therefore there is a need in the field to make theme parks more immersive and interactive through the usage of devices that enable the communication of data over a distance.